Sheldon Adelson, Dorchester is calling

Long before he backed Gingrich, the billionaire got his start in blue-collar Boston

He’s one of the wealthiest men in the world, with a net worth of $25 billion — more than the GDP of over 100 countries. But Sheldon Adelson grew up here, on Erie Street in Dorchester, where an old tire lies in a public park, near a boarded-up church that declares “Jesus Saves.’’

When Adelson was a kid, his cramped apartment lay within the tight embrace of an enclave of Jewish immigrants, the second-largest Jewish community in America. Today’s immigrants hail from Cape Verde and Haiti. But one thing hasn’t changed in this slice of Dorchester: It’s still home of the working class. The little guy. The common man.